Hybrid working and flexibility seen as drivers of successful employee experience

A new report claims that while 90 percent of businesses see the enablement of remote and hybrid working as having a positive impact on their bottom line, less than half (48 percent) of organisations strongly agree that employees have access to the technology they need to work well both at home, and in the office. The report from NTT claims that approximately 56 percent of hybrid workers spend half the work week at the office.

The report argues that hybrid working models are now recognised by the majority of business leaders as fundamental to a positive workplace experience, so organisations need to ensure they are providing employees with the technologies they need to work effectively, regardless of location. According to the report from the IT firm, top-performing companies that increased their IT spend were 56 percent more likely than underperformers to report improved business growth due to improvements to workplace experience,  and 89 percent more likely than all others to have significantly increased employee satisfaction.

Commenting on the research, Amit Dhingra, Executive Vice President of Network Services at NTT Ltd. said: “The disconnect between what employees need and what businesses provide them with is still too large. Too often we see hybrid working strategies focusing on one type of working style, despite employees wanting the flexibility to work in a way that suits them. It was positive to see that 73 percent of organizations agree that hybrid and remote working has led to their investment in mobility over the last two years to promote flexibility, but more still needs to be done to reduce the disconnect and improve EX. This is especially true given that satisfied and engaged employees are 66 percent more likely to deliver exceptional customer service,” added Dhingra.

In addition to hybrid working, workplace experience is impacted by the rise in AI, with the emerging technology voted as the main enabler of future customer experience (CX) and EX strategies, and AI interfaces rising to become the norm for 4 in 5 organisations within the next 12 months. Despite this, 87 percent of organisations agree that human-led support remains a critical element in their customer engagement.